The tale of the Troika
The tale of the Troika ( Russian Сказка о Тройке ) is a story by Arkadi and Boris Strugazki from 1967, the sequel to Monday begins on Saturday .
Originally this story was supposed to be published by Molodaja Gwardija and Detskaja Literatura , but the publication was rejected due to criticism of the Soviet bureaucracy. In 1967, a shorter, more harmless version of the story in two issues of the magazine was Angara in Irkutsk printed. Even then, the entire circulation of the two Angara editions was crushed; the editor-in-chief of the magazine, Yuri Samsonov, was relieved of his post. During the Soviet era, “The Troika Tale” was published without authorization by the German-Russian dissident publisher Posev . It was not until twenty years later that the original version of the "Troika" was published in the Soviet Union in the magazine Smena .
action
There are two versions of the book, some of which differ greatly in the plot. The first, longer version is known as the "Smena Version", or "The Tale of the Troika-1". The second, shorter, version is called the Angara version, or "The Tale of the Troika-2".
Smena version ("Troika-1")
The employees of the National Institute for Magic and Wizardry (NIITschaWO), Alexander Priwalow, Witjka Kornejew, Roman Ojra-Ojra and Edik Amperjan travel to Kiteschgrad to receive magical artifacts intended for their institute. These artifacts include the intelligent bug Goworun, the speaking octopus Spiridon, the alien Constantine, a snowman , a black box , etc. However, they must soon find out that the competent authority, "Troika for rationalizing and utilizing inexplicable phenomena" (TPRUNJA, Russian . ТПРУНЯ), possesses immense power, grandiose ignorance and cartoonish bureaucracy. The Troika is, strangely enough, five members: the chairman Lavr Fedotowitsch Wunjukow, the hysterical activists Rudolf Hlebowwodow, the opportunists Farfurkis, the ever-sleeping colonel Motorradivision and scientific advisor Amwrosij Ambroisowitsch Wybegallo.
The young scientists now have to deal with the bureaucratic authority - on the one hand they have to receive the desired artifacts, on the other hand they have to avoid being tied up with useless, pseudoscientific objects. The bureaucratic troika, in turn, has a magical artifact - the Great Round Seal. The decisions stamped with this seal inevitably and immediately become reality. For example, when TPRUNJA decides that a mosquito bog is harmful to the economy, it immediately disappears from the map. In the end, the troika is outwitted by the protagonists themselves forming a sub-commission and distributing the desired items to themselves.
Angara version ("Troika-2")
The second, lesser-known version of the story has a different beginning and ending. There the Troika is in the legendary city of Tjmuskorpion on the 76th floor of the NIITSchaWO building. Only Alexander Priwalow and Edik Amperjan set out to investigate what was going on on the 76th floor. This version lacks Roman Ojra-Ojra and Witjka Kornejew, as well as some supporting characters such as the octopus Spiridon, the liquid alien, the sleeping colonel and others. At the end of this version, Alexander and Edik are saved by the experienced magisters of magic, Fyodor Kiwrin and Cristóbal Junta .
Trivia
- The two authors preferred different versions of the book. Boris Strugazki preferred the longer Smena version, while Arkadi Strugazki preferred the shorter Angara version.
German editions
- Angara version : In Arkady and Boris Strugazki: The second invasion of the Martians. Two science fiction stories . Fantastic Library Volume 139, Suhrkamp Paperback. 1st edition Frankfurt am Main 1984. There: Das Märchen von der Troika , pp. 129–285. ISBN 3-518-37581-4
- Smena version : In: Arkadi and Boris Strugazki: Troika. Fantastic novel. Fantastic library, 300th Suhrkamp paperback 1990. ISBN 978-3-518-38721-4